Parents Should Not Be Forced to Vaccinate Their Kids: Top Cardiologist

The growing outbreak of measles tied to unvaccinated children has led to new calls from doctors and public health officials to tighten vaccine practices in the U.S. But Phoenix cardiologist Jack Wolfson, M.D., says decisions should be left to parents to decide, when it comes to vaccinating children.

“Well, I don’t believe anything should be mandatory,” said Dr. Wolfson in an interview on Newsmax TV’s “Steve Malzberg Show.”

“It should be the parents’ decision, it should be their informed consent, they should know the risks and the benefits of any procedure they choose whether it’s cardiology wise or certainly vaccines.”

Dr. Wolfson — a board-certified cardiologist, who uses nutrition and supplements to prevent and treat disease — has been criticized for his stand against the mainstream medical view on childhood vaccines.

Mainstream medical authorities and doctors say there is indisputable scientific evidence that childhood vaccines are safe (and do not cause autism or other serious side effects), and are both effective and necessary to protect children from life-threatening diseases. The World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that preventable childhood illnesses — such as measles — kill more than 140,000 kids worldwide, primarily in countries where vaccines are not readily available.